Christmas Cookie Drabbles
by I-Heart-Hatake-Kakashi
Summary: 12 days. 12 Drabbles. All Nejiten. All Christmas/Winter themes
1. Loneliness

**Disclaimer: **Don't own Naruto!

**A/N: ** This is the first of my **The 12 days of Christmas Cookie Challenge** (cookie = Drabble! ;p)

The challenge is to write a drabble in the time it takes to bake a batch of cookies... 20 minutes. Hope you enjoy them!

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**_**LONELINESS****  
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Long ago, on a frigid winter night, a shrill, deafening whistle had been ringing through the trees, as a lonely little boy sat crying silently in a dark and desolate playground. Though most would have been terrified of the almost scream-like noise, to the boy it had been a welcome sound, for it had served to drown out the haunting thumping of his shattered heart. A heart that broke every winter at the memory of times forgotten and empty, lonely nights.

He hadn't always been that sad.

He hadn't always been that alone.

Though the boy, who had been little more than six years old at the time, had, in his short life, already experienced so much pain, so much anguish, so much bitter loneliness. Every year, as the nights grew longer and the days grew colder, he was reminded of the times when that wasn't so. Of times spent in cheerful peace and blessed merriment. And while one would think that memories of such happy times would help ease the loneliness, it did in fact do quite the opposite. Instead of filling his heart with joy, the boy had only ever grown more sullen and alone.

He would remember when he still had his mother and his father. The only two people he had ever loved. He would be reminded of the times in which he was surrounded by love and laughter. Of times when bitterness had yet to touch his pure and innocent heart.

But those days did not last long.

In the winter of his third year, he had lost his mother.

She had been taken by disease. A long drawn out battle that had poisoned his father. Made him angry, made him hate the world and all that was in it. A hatred that had later been directed at his fate, and at his position in their clan. A hatred that had consumed him and eventually led to his downfall.

In the end, his father died as well.

It was a sacrifice they said, but in reality, it had been so much simpler than that. His father, though brave and honorable as he may have been, did not die in the line of duty. He did not die as a pawn. He did not die as a loving brother, though some would argue that may have play some part. What he died of it, was so much worse, for he died of a broken heart.

A broken heart and bitterness, which the lonely little boy had then inherited. And it was such a shame, for the boy had once been a sweet and gentle soul.

No purer heart existed, except of course, for the one that had reached out to him that night.

"Why are you crying?" the pigtailed little girl had questioningly smiled at the little boy as sat alone in the darkness, gently rocking back and forth on a rusted old swing.

The boy had looked up, with terror in his eyes. Never had he expected to see anyone in the playground that had long since been covered over by the forest.

In years to come, the memory of that little girl, with the brightly smiling face, had seemed more like a dream to him, then an actual true event. But as the years went by, and the day of fate arrived, he came upon that same smiling face at age eleven and he knew then, his loneliness had finally ended.

"What are you smiling at Neji?" Tenten furrowed her brow curiously, smiling at him with that same cheerful grin he'd come to love.

"Nothing," the now grown boy shook his head as he handed her another berry for her to string into the needle she was holding. "Nothing," he repeated, smiling back at her as he thought of just how truly lucky he was to have found love like hers.


	2. O Christmas Tree

**Disclaimer: **Don't own Naruto!

**O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree! Thy leaves are so unchanging**

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**_**Oh Christmas Tree****  
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"It's..."

"Perfect!" the kunoichi brightly beamed as she looked at the tree she had selected for her apartment.

"That wasn't the word I was thinking," the white-eyed man standing next to her replied as he watched her pick up the tiny pine tree and head towards the other end of the Christmas tree lot.

"It's awfully small, Tenten-san," the bowl-haired boy walking next to them added.

The three of them had just spent the last few hours looking over all of the trees in the lot, helping the kunoichi find the one she would eventually take home and decorate. After combing through the entire lot, and finding most of them, 'too big', 'too skinny', 'too fat', 'too green', and just about any other excuse one could think up, the three of them had ended up at the very back of the lot where the dead and dying and discarded trees had all been placed next to a wood chipper.

As soon as they got there, the bun-haired girls eyes had immediately fallen upon a fragile looking little tree that stood no more than a foot off the ground. It wasn't what one would typically think of when envisioning the ideal Christmas tree. The poor little tree was unsightly at best. It was too small and much too thin; the pine needles were beginning to brown, and the trunk was just a little bit off center and drooping to one side. Not at all the ideal tree. But to the weapons mistress, it was perfect.

"Nonsense!" Tenten shook her head as she walked on ahead of the two younger men. "All it needs is a little love."

The two shinobi walking quickly behind her exchanged curious looks, not sure if they actually believed such a shabby looking tree could really be transformed into anything other than wood chips. But both of them knew the kunoichi, better than most. And of course, the one thing anyone should know about Tenten was that once she made up her mind about something, come hell or high water, nothing would persuade her otherwise.

"Just watch!" Tenten smirked over at her two teammates as she handed the equally befuddled looking cashier the money for her tree. "I'll take this little tree home and decorate it, and you'll see, it really will be the perfect Christmas tree."

Sure enough, upon arriving at her home, the kunoichi set out to prove just that. She handed the two men hot coco and instructed them to sit and watch her. Pulling out a large box of holiday decorations, that would undoubtedly be too heavy for the sickly looking three, she pulled out a garland and wrapped it around the little tree, filling in all the gaps and giving it a more fuller, thicker appearance. Once that was taken care of, Tenten took out some small shiny globes and strung them to the garland. One small cord of white lights later, and the tiny tree had been transformed from a sickly twig to a beautiful miniature Christmas tree, more beautiful than the one in the center of Konoha, or even the elegantly designed Hyuga tree.

"It's perfect," the three smiling teammates nodded in agreement.

And it truly was, the perfect Christmas tree.

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A/N: aaaahh, good grief Charlie Brown ;p


	3. Secret Obsession

**Disclaimer: **Don't own Naruto!

_**A/N:**_ I'm only on the 3rd day and already I'm running dry on ideas... maybe 2 stories at once wasn't such a good idea... Anyway this one is based off the prompts "Lines" "Late Gift Shopping" and "Bad presents" (of course, I wouldn't consider this a bad gift at all!)

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**_**Secret Obsession  
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'_Maybe I got too many…_' The bun-haired girl wondered, as she carried the towering stack of books she had just purchased at the bookstore.

It was rare that her team was given a real day off from training. Usually when that happened, Lee and Gai would still run off somewhere together, and Neji and Tenten would still meet up to spar on their own during the free time; not much of a 'day off'. However, on very rare occasions Gai would insist that they had to take the day off; with no training at all. This was one such day.

It happened that the 'no training day' came a few days before Christmas. This, was no doubt due to the fact that Team Gai had been extremely busy for the last few months, and in all likelihood none of them had probably had time to go shopping for their gifts.

This was definitely true of the kunoichi in their team, who didn't particularly like shopping in the first place. The long lines, crowded shops, and hopeless search for the 'perfect gift' drove the kunoichi up a wall every year. This year, however, she decided to avoid all of that. This year, she'd be giving the gift of knowledge.

Or at least that's what she told her self. In reality, Tenten just wanted an opportunity to indulge her secret passion.

While weaponry was her greatest obsession, she wasn't just some weapon wielding maniac, constantly training to perfect her skills; she also took time to study up on various weapons. It had been an early obsession which had not only helped her become the skilled weapons mistress that she was, but also earned her the second highest marks the year she graduated from the academy; Neji's being the highest.

It had started out when she wanted to learn the proper technique to throw a shuriken; after mastering the perfect technique, she eventually combed through the entire library looking for other books to teach her how to handle other weapons. It had been through the instruction of those books, that she had first begun her obsession with weapons in general.

Over the years she had developed a great passion for reading book after book; it didn't matter what the topic was, so long as it taught her some new skill; though weaponry books were still her utmost favorite. Her passion for reading had led to her learning a lot about jutsu's and shinobi history, as well as a number of other things. Over the course of her short life, not only had she built up a vast arsenal of weapons; she had also amassed a large collection of books, with well over half of them having something to do with weapons. Some could even say that Tenten's second obsession was reading.

Under the pretense of holiday shopping, the bun-haired kunoichi had decided to spend her day off at her favorite bookstore and see what new books they had in stock. Because it had been so long since the last time she had the opportunity to go to the bookstore, Tenten had fallen behind a lot on many of the newer books and editions to her favorite guides; as a result, along with books to give as Christmas gifts, she had also bought at least a dozen new books for herself.

"Definitely too many" she groaned from behind the stack, unable to see where she was going. It was worth it though. She had found a lot of great books for herself, and many of her favorites that she would be giving to her friends.


	4. Everyone's Niisan

**Disclaimer: **Don't own Naruto!

_**A/N:**_ I saw the preview for "NEJI CHRONICLES" (which i'm so excited about!) and one of the first things I noticed was that Konohamaru and company were calling him "Neji-niisan!" so... that inspired this XP Enjoy!

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EVERYONES NIISAN**_**  
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"Niisan! Niisan! Niisan!" the horde of little kids excitedly surrounded Neji, pinching and pulling his sides to try and get his attention.

If it weren't for the fact that he would likely get into a lot of trouble for doing so, the irritated Hyuga would have kaitened each and every last one of the little rug rats. Not that they wouldn't have deserved it. For the last hour he had been used as a pin cushion, a snot rag, a sneeze tissue, a chew toy, and, from the warm wet feeling on his lap, he suspected at least one of them had confused him for a toilet.

How he had gotten into this kind of mess, Neji wasn't even sure.

"Just put up with it for a little longer." Tenten, who had been busy giggling for the past half an hour, at his expense no less, turned and smiled at him reassuringly. "They're just kids," she added, as if rationalizing the little brats' behavior.

But there was no excuse for it!

At their age, a Hyuga child was already disciplined and well behaved. They were quiet and calm. Patience was instilled in them from early on, making them some of the most well mannered children around. Nothing like these disorderly, screaming little monsters surrounding him.

"Niisan! You have pretty eyes," one of the snot-nosed little girls commented, as she stretched her fingers out to try and poke said eyes.

"They're kind of weird looking," the boy standing next to her commented, as Neji narrowly avoided getting his eyes gouged out by the two demon brats.

"ah!" the Hyuga loudly yelled out, after a group of girls decided to play Rapunzel with his hair and see if the boys could climb up it's length. The only thing they really accomplished was pulling the Hyuga down from behind.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Tenten shooed the kids away, more for their own safety as she undoubtedly guess what Neji had been prepared to do next. "Didn't your parents ever teach you it's not nice to pull someone's hair?" she scolded the children as Neji pulled himself back up to his feet and busied himself rearranging his attire. "Now, everyone, get back in line. You'll all have your turn, you just have to be patient."

Amazingly, the children listened to the bun-haired kunoichi with little argument. A few of them even complimented her on her pretty green dress and pointy shoes. She did actually look very cute. Which almost made it worth all that he had to endure the last hour.

"Almost..." Neji growled under his breath, looking down at the wet spot on his dark red pants.

Walking over to him, Tenten leaned forward and quietly whispering in his ear, "You've got to learn to handle kids if you ever want to have some of your own someday."

"Hyuga children are silent and well behaved," he countered, trying hard not to snap as he inhaled and exhaled deeply, readying himself for the onslaught of badly behaved demon children to come.

"Yeah?" Tenten stood back up and smirked at him disbelievingly. "Do you really think my kids are going to be anything like that?"

Hearing her, a huge teasing smile began spreading across Neji's face. He wondered if she knew what she was asking. Knowing her, though, she undoubtedly had meant that he would have to interact with children that weren't just his own. Once they and all their friends got married and began having children of their own, most of them would likely be like the kids currently surrounding them, waiting to sit on Neji's lap and tell him what they'd want for Christmas.

"Yes." Neji finally replied, his teasing smirk still planted on his face. "All Hyuga children are silent and well behaved."

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A/N: If you didn't get it, Neji was dressed up as Santa and Tenten was his elf!


	5. Sparkle like a Vampire

**Disclaimer: **Don't own Naruto!

_**A/N:**_ Please note, I HATE Twilight, but the title just couldn't be helped hahaha

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Sparkle like a Vampire**_**  
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Neji checked the clock on the mantle one last time. It was nearing half passed twelve. He'd soon have to face the Hyuga elders, who had asked him to meet them for an important decision they were going to tell him about. He wasn't exactly sure what it was they intended to discuss with him, but he knew from the formality with which they had invited him, that it was not to be missed.

"Neji-sama." a voice from behind the Hyuga prodigy called out to him. It was one of the guards who had been scheduled to stand at the compound entrance earlier.

"Yes?" Neji turned to face the man, wondering what he could possibly want with him at a time like this.

"These were dropped off for you at the main gate," the man informed him, handing Neji a stack of envelopes.

The prodigy held his hand out and quickly accepted them. It was yet another group of letters from fangirls. Not something Neji was particularly excited about receiving, but his manners and good upbringing forced him to accept them and at the very least look through the parcels.

Thanking the man, who quickly dismissed himself afterwards, Neji sighed and began shifting through the colorful stack of papers. After many an unpleasant experience looking through passed love letters, Neji learned to Byukugan everything. He no longer opened any of the actual envelopes, lest he should find himself with a handful of pubic hair, or unwashed panties.

Seriously, some of his admirers were less than stable, and their obsession with him bordered on the insane.

"Haaah," Neji exhaled deeply as he walked over towards the nearest trashcan and began tossing most of the letters away.

Some of them he kept. Since it was the holidays, more than a few of the cards had been sent to him by friends and colleagues. Their cards he could certainly not throw away.

Looking up at the clock once more, to see he still had five minutes before his meeting, Neji began opening the small stack he had decided to keep. One by one, he went through the colorful cards, a few newsletters, some pictures, and the occasional candy-cane in a envelope. When there was one minute left on the clock, he decided to start walking over to the room where he was assigned to meet with the elders.

He had only one envelope left and so decided to take it along with him, to open on his walk over to the meeting.

As he made his way through the corridors, Neji turned the envelope over and over in his hands, wondering why he'd kept it. It didn't say who it was from, or even had his name marked on it, but for some reason he had felt drawn to it and had been unable to toss it in the trash like the others.

Using his byakugan had been useless. For some reason, he couldn't see passed the lining of the envelope. That in itself intrigued him. Perhaps that alone was the reason he'd decided to keep it, and to open it last. Whatever the reason, the thick little red envelope enticed him. His curiosity had been peeked.

It seemed harmless enough.

As he stood outside of the meeting room, waiting to be called in, Neji decided it would be fine if he opened the envelope then. He probably wouldn't get a chance to read it, but at least he might be able to find out who had sent it to him. That was something he was now very curious about.

Just a the doors of the meeting room opened to let him in, Neji's right index fingernail cut through the envelope flap on the back. And then everything went white.

White and sparkly.

A small boom exploded in his hand as a smokeless puff of glitter surrounded and covered him. He quickly shut his eyes, unaware of the amused and confused looks from his uncle and the elders who had turned to face the tiny explosion they had heard as the doors to the meeting room opened.

As the cloud of glitter slowly settled, Neji opened his eyes once more, and smiled sheepishly at the elders who merely grinned widely at the residual glitter still floating in the air; the rest of it covering the Hyuga and making him sparkle. As his eyes adjusted to the shiny little pieces floating in the air, his cheeks flushed at the message written in the air in glitter:

_Happy Holidays Neji,_

_Love Tenten!_

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A/N: hahahahaha ;p


	6. A little tickle

**Disclaimer: **Don't own Naruto!

_**A/N: **_ totally random.

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A little tickle**_**  
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Now there was a sight Neji had never seen before.

A pouting Tenten.

It was common enough to see her bubbly and sweet. Angry and ferocious was also not an unfamiliar sight. But pouting? Tenten wasn't the type of girl who liked to cry in front of others.

She didn't like showing weakness.

So it was perhaps for that very reason she had told no one that she had caught a cold on their last mission, in the snowy mountains of Ice Country. Neji, though, had noticed when she mentioned a tickle in her throat. He had noticed that her clothes looked rather wet and soggy coming back to the village. And of course he had noticed the rosy, feverish color of her cheeks. It had been inevitable that she would end up sick.

What Neji hadn't expected, however, was to see his girlfriend of two years sitting in a dark room on the floor of her living room in front of her Christmas tree, looking up and pouting like a troubled toddler.

"It's not fair!" the bun-haired girl tearfully cried, slamming her small fists down on her bare thighs.

How she expected to get any better wearing a tanktop and short shorts, Neji couldn't comprehend. Certainly she had to be freezing in that getup.

"What's not fair?" Neji calmly asked as he closed the front door behind him and walked over toward the kunoichi.

Hearing him enter, for the first time acknowledging he was there, Tenten turned her head to look up at Neji. "I'm sick," she pouted up at him, looking at the Hyuga with large puppy-dog eyes.

"I can see that." Neji bent down and grabbed the girl by the waist, helping her up to her feet.

"It's almost Christmas!" she sniffled. "It's not fair!" Tears were beginning to form at the corners of her eyes, as she stumbled to her feet. "I'm going to miss all the fun."

He felt for her he really did.

Neji knew, better then anyone, how much the holidays meant to her. He knew that Tenten spent months counting down the day. She picked out presents long before the holiday season even arrived. She made her own decorations and began hanging them up the first day of December. Christmas tunes could be heard from her apartment day and night during the month. It was her favorite time of the year. And to be sick during the pinnacle of that celebration... well, it was obvious that would get her down. But that's just how it was.

"It can't be helped." Neji sighed, as he hoisted the kunoichi up in his arms and began making his way to her room to put her to bed.

"But it's not fair!" Tenten continued to pout, childishly pounding her fist on his chest and snuggled into his arms and sniffled away. "I want to sing and dance and play and laugh..."

"Laugh?" Neji smirked at an idea that popped into his mind as he set the kunoichi down on the bed.

Without really thinking it through, and perhaps because of the childish way in which Tenten had been acting up until that point, Neji felt something compelling him to go at her pace. In moments, his hands were at her waist again and he began rubbing his fingertips on the kunoichi's bare stomach.

She immediately began pulling away, as she giggled in spite of herself. "That-that-that tickles!"

Hearing her, Neji only further increased his actions, expanding the reach of his fingertips. "You're surprisingly sensitive Tenten," he teased, as they both fell on the bed and she tried desperately to escape his quick fingers.

"Stop it! Stop it!" she giggled louder, pulling on the covers of the bed, trying to drag herself away from his grasp.

Neji didn't stop. Though inwardly he acknowledged the fact that it was somewhat out of character for him, he was actually beginning to enjoy teasing her that way. Yes, she was sick, but at least now it appeared she wasn't as depressed as she had been moments earlier.

"Ok, ok, I give up! I give up!" Tenten pleaded between breaths, still wrestling under him to try and free herself.

At this point, however, Neji was having too much fun. "Vetoed!" he smirked, chuckling under his breath as he continued to mercilessly tickled the girl beneath him.

It went on for about ten minutes before the two of them finally collapsed, exhausted from the impromptu tickle fight.

Turning to face the kunoichi as she curled up next to him on the bed, Neji couldn't help but smile, thinking about how much fun that had actually turned out to be. "This might become a habit," he mused quietly as he wrapped his arms around the kunoichi, and pulled the undone covers over her to keep her warm.


	7. Cute

**Disclaimer: **Don't own Naruto!

_**A/N: **_ AGH the writing is crappy, but the story is sweet. Thank goodness for shower inspirations because I had no idea what to write about today

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CUTE**_**  
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Working during the holidays was perhaps the worst luck a shinobi could have. Most of the time, it was as if the whole wide world stopped during the winter festivities. So as a result, there often weren't very many assignments or missions that required any more than a few hours worth of work. And those were usually missions that were within the borders of Konoha, and generally left to genin and the occasional chunin squad. But for jounins it was fairly common that they received at least two weeks worth of vacation time during the winter months.

Unfortunately life was never quite that predictable. And as it just so happened, the week before Christmas, a three man jounin squad had been sent off from the hidden leaf village to babysit a stupid prince before his coronation. They had been with him three days before Tenten had finally had enough and she knocked some sense into the foolish prince, forcing him to take his responsibilities more seriously. In the end, everything had gone swimmingly, and the three jounin had quickly set off back to the village.

It was a three day trip, and they had made excellent time. On the first day the three friends had made it half way through their journey back, and Naruto, who had been substituting for Lee, had suggested they make a quick stop outside Fire Country in the world renowned hotsprings. Neji had been a bit weary about the idea, but seeing how happy Tenten had become at the thought that she'd at least get to enjoy a little of the holidays in a calming and beautiful resort, he had relented to the idea.

The hotspring had been great, and the three of them had easily crashed that night after a relaxing dip in the hot water. They had been so relaxed in fact that all three of them had overslept. The first one up, to much surprise, had been Naruto, who, Neji discovered only moments after waking up, with a marker in his hand, hovering over the Hyuga's face.

"What are you doing?" Neji glared up at the younger man, not too happy about having the first thing he saw after waking, be the knuckled headed ninja.

"I thought I would wake you up." Naruto innocently smiled, though his eyes held a twinkle of mischief.

Neji didn't buy that for one second. Over the last few days, for some unknown reason, Naruto had been increasingly troublesome. This was surprising considering he had recently been nominated for the position of Hokage. Or perhaps it wasn't, considering this kind of thing was probably something he wouldn't be able to do once he was the new Kage.

"Can't you wake me up in a more normal way?" Neji pushed the younger man off of him; also taking advantage of the fact that soon he probably wouldn't be able to do that either.

Naruto seemed unfazed, as he merely brushed himself off and walked over to the sleeping Kunoichi in the other bed, while Neji stood and dressed himself. Out of the corner of his eye, the Hyuga could see that his younger friend was again up to his pranks. He threw a brush at the blonde, hitting him hard on the back of the head. But it seemed he was too late, as he saw Tenten groggily sit up on her bed, with pen marks on her forehead, unknown to her as she sleepily walked over to the bathroom they were sharing.

"I'm going to wash up," Tenten yawned, as she staggered to the lavatory, rubbing her eyes of the sleep still lingering in them.

Neji merely watched, uncertain of what the kunoichi's reaction might be once she walked up to the sink and saw that Naruto had written all over her face in permanent marker.

It didn't take long for her to notice, he could tell, as the two shinobi heard something fall into the sink; perhaps her brush. Soon, the kunoichi, quietly and calmly, walked out of the bathroom and headed straight towards the blonde boy. She smiled a tiny grin, and without a word, leaned forward and kissed the boys cheek, then turned and walked back into the bathroom to finish getting ready.

While the three teammates made their way back to the village, Neji couldn't help but smirk as he noticed the kunoichi had apparently decided against washing the marker off her face. He found it quite amusing, despite the fact that it had been a prank. What he had found most amusing, however, was her reaction to it. Not the kiss, which he would certainly make Naruto pay for tenfold, but the fact that she had, up until the previous night, been incredibly pissed off and angry because of the stupid arrogant prince they had had to babysit. It was adorable, that a simple little word, printed on her forehead could make the girl's rage melt so easily.

"haha." Neji chuckled under his breath, as he shook his head and mentally agreed with his future Hokage, looking over at Tenten and the word 'Cute' written on her forehead.

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A/N: Neji didn't seem the type who would write on a girl's face, but Naruto does.


	8. The Picture

**Disclaimer: **Don't own Naruto!

_**A/N:**_ cliché with a twist... just like I like 'em ;p

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THE PICTURE**_**  
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To his right and to his left, Neji could see only wreckage and devastation. It seemed as if absolutely nothing had survived the disaster that had unfolded moments earlier.

On the floor, surrounded by broken glass and scattered pine needles, the bun-haired kunoichi was holding on to the remains of what used to be a picture frame. It had been a gift from Hinata. A photo of their friends all together in one shot.

The only one of it's kind.

Tenten had opened the gift with eager excitement. Her face glowing when she saw what was inside of the colorfully wrapped box.

"It's beautiful" she had said, smiling at the blushing heiress who had been so happy to see her gift had been well received.

But now it was ruined. The glass was shattered, and the frame broken in two. The photo had been crumpled and the edges been torn. As she held on to her gift, the bun-haired girl's fingers trembled. Whether it was anger or sorrow, the Hyuga couldn't tell.

He wanted to say something. To comfort her. But what could he really do? What was there to say? Nothing could bring back the picture. Nothing could repair the damage.

What was done was done.

And who would have guessed that it all started because of a simple little party in the kunoichi's home?

The Konoha eleven, plus Sai, had all gotten together to celebrate a holiday they had never heard of, under the insistence of the girls, who had discovered Christmas on a mission to a foreign country. They had decided on Tenten's house because she was the only one who lived alone. It had been pretty fun. Exchanging gifts, eating pumpkin pies and peppermint candy, listening to festive jingles and drinking eggnog.

It was the eggnog that did them in.

The beverage had been unfamiliar to all of them before that night. So of course no one had suspected it's contents included alcohol. Not that that would have been a problem considering all twelve of them were now of legal drinking age. The only issue, however, had been one shinobi in particular. One shinobi who they had long ago discovered should, under no circumstances, _ever_ drink alcohol.

But again, unfortunately, no one knew that eggnog had even a tiny drop of alcohol in it.

This is, until it was too late.

Before anyone even knew what was happening, a green tornado blew through the inside of the kunoichi's apartment. And it wasn't like before.

At 19, Rock Lee was nothing like he had been as a genin. His strength and power were unparalleled by most shinobi of the day. His drunken fist style had benefitted from all the years of training and as a result, the destruction he could now commit while intoxicated was unimaginable and incomparable to what it had been when his abilities had first been discovered all those years ago.

It had taken the bowl-haired boy less than ten minutes to completely obliterate the kunoichi's apartment from the inside. Naruto had had to summon twenty clones to pile on top of him, while Shikamaru held the younger green beast in his shadow possession jutsu.

Needless to say, the party had ended then. And after helping the kunoichi pick up most of the mess, the rest of them had taken off, dropping Lee over at the hospital where they could tranquilize him until he sobered up. The only one left in the mess, along with the kunoichi that lived there, had been Neji.

"He..."

"I know," Tenten cut the Hyuga off, turning up to face him as she continued to hold the picture in her hands. "It's okay." she smiled up. "He didn't mean to."

"Yeah." Neji nodded, agreeing with her, though he wasn't quite sure if that was what he had originally intended to say. Truthfully, he didn't know if there was anything that could be said. It wasn't Lee's fault, but it didn't make the mess go away to say that.

"It's just stuff." Tenten shrugged. But by the way she held the picture against her chest, Neji could tell she was at least a little bit hurt by the fact that the picture she had received had been damaged in the chaos.

Gently smiling down at her, Neji offered his hand to help her back up. "We can take another."


	9. Kissing Booth

**Disclaimer: **Don't own Naruto!

_**A/N:**_ oh yes, my holiday drabbles are so totally random now XP... running out of ideas ;p

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KISSING BOOTH**_**  
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"It's your own fault," the teasing voice besides Neji stated.

The Hyuga turned and glared at the fang-faced boy standing to his right. Kiba had walked up to him moments earlier and immediately began taunting and teasing him. Under normal circumstances, Neji would have beat the crap out of the younger boy, but recently the Inuzuka had been making more and more visits to the Hyuga compound, and spending a lot of time with Hiashi and the elders. As much as he wanted to, Neji wasn't stupid enough to get himself in trouble with the council by having to explain to them why his cousin's boyfriend had been injured at his hands.

"Exactly how is this my fault?" Neji growled through clenched teeth.

The two of them remain silent for a moment, observing the large line in front of the colorfully designed festival booth; the traditional 'kissing booth.' The line extended well passed the dunk tank, which was about six booths away. It was comprised of academy students, and lecherous jounin alike. All of them vying for the attention of this years 'lucky' attendant. And it just so happened, that this year, the one in charge of standing under the mistletoe, was none other than the bun-haired kunoichi herself.

"The festival committee never picks girls who have a boyfriend." Kiba finally replied, smirking as he noticed the twitch in the Hyuga's eye at his response.

"Hn." Neji would have denied that that had anything to do with him, but he knew it was pointless. Hinata was one of the few people who knew of his feelings for the weapons mistress. As her boyfriend, it was no surprise that Kiba would also know. Sharing information was just one of the things couples did.

"You can fix this."

Neji turned and faced the younger boy, eyeing him skeptically. "Fix it?"

"Just go up there and plant a big fat wet one on her and then steal her away!" Kiba grinned proudly, as if he'd just said the most intelligent thing in the world. He waited for the Hyuga's reaction, but only received a scowl in response. "What? No good?" he innocently asked.

Incredulously, Neji rolled his eyes at the younger man. "What, in all the time we have known each other, would lead you to believe, I could do something so undignified?"

Knowing he'd gotten under the older man's skin, if even just a little, Kiba's smirk widened. "Girl's like that sort of thing. It's romantic," he offered.

"Romantic?" Neji scoffed. "That sounds more possessive then romantic. I can't imagine any woman would enjoy that."

"Hahaha" Kiba chuckled, shaking his head amusedly at the white-eyed man's incredulous look. "You'd be surprised. Girl's are complete suckers for big gestures like that." And with those words, the wild Inuzuka walked off, leaving Neji to contemplate what he would do.

Not too surprisingly, the line to the kissing booth significantly decreased, and kisses all turned into quick cheek pecks, after the white-eyed prodigy went and stood behind the kissing booth, glaring at all those who came to stand below the mistletoe that year.


	10. Letters to Santa

**Disclaimer: **Don't own Naruto!

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LETTERS TO SANTA**_**  
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It wasn't that Neji didn't like the holidays. In fact, there was a time, when he was very much like the little kids that eagerly surrounded him and his team.

As a child, Neji used to believe in the magic of Christmas. But that was long ago. Time goes on, and children grow. The magic disappears and the excitement fades. That's just the way things were. It wasn't really his fault that Neji didn't care too much for the holidays now that he was an adult. Well, maybe seventeen wasn't quite adult, but it was pretty close.

He couldn't remember exactly when it was that he stopped believing. Most civilian's stopped believing in Santa after the age of six or seven. For shinobi, who were forced to grow up even faster than normal people, it was probably sooner. It therefore seemed quite ridiculous to Neji that Team Gai's current mission was to visit the Ninja Academy with large red bags, and collect the student's letters to Santa.

What was the point?

Most of the children in the academy were older than six. It seemed illogical to think that any of them still believed in the magic of Christmas. Surely they all knew that the gifts they received were placed under the tree and in the stockings by their parents, not by some mysterious, plump old man with a white beard, who lived at the north pole and had an army of toy-making elves.

"Smile!" a tiny whisper came from the Hyuga's left.

Standing next to him, Tenten poked his side and again repeated her instruction for him to smile. Though he wasn't much the smiling type, he did his best. "How many more classrooms do we have left?" he asked once they left the previous room.

"We're almost done oh youthful prodigy!" Gai beamed back at the two sparring partners and he as his miniature-version walked... no... _bounced_, over to the following classroom.

"This is ridiculous." Neji sigh, frustrated.

"What is?" the kunoichi walking besides him cheerfully asked, as she took his arm in hers and they walked towards the next classroom.

"Nothing," he replied, shaking his head dismissively.

"You know," Tenten leaned forwards and tilted her head to look up at him. "We're almost done. If you want, we can leave the rest to Gai and Lee and head back to sort out the letters we've got so far."

The prospects of sorting through letters to have some other teams send them out to the children's parents wasn't of any particular appeal to the Hyuga prodigy, but it seemed like a better option than going through the last few rooms, so he quickly agreed to it.

Before they left, Tenten let Lee and Gai know that they would be heading to the kunoichi's apartment to go through the stacks they had. The greener half of their team agreed to meet up with them later, and soon Neji found himself away from the annoying reminders of his long forgotten childhood, and began sorting through childishly written letters, scanning them only for the name of each student, and them connecting them to the names on the school roster they had been given. Besides him, humming Christmas tunes, Tenten was busy making the envelopes for each student's letter, addressed to their parents, who would receive the letters and determine whether their child had been nice enough to get the gift they requested.

"haaah" Neji sighed deeply as he reached into his bag for another letter. There was simply nothing magical left of the holidays.

He pulled a brightly colored green piece of paper and began scanning down the text to search for the child's name. The print was much more legible than the majority of the letter's he'd gone through, though not by much. It was annoying though. A lot of the words were bolded and capitalized, as if to emphasize the child's words. And although it was in writing, Neji felt almost as if the letter was screaming at him. It reminded him of a certain pair of green buffoons …

"Lee," the Hyuga groaned as he reached the end of the letter and noticed that in fact the name signed at the very bottom of the page was that of his bowl-haired friend.

Peeking over the side of his head, with her chin leaning on his shoulder, Tenten giggled as she saw what Neji had groaned at. "Oh, that's just like Lee," she smiled. "Guess it's true, the magic of Christmas never really has to die if you don't let it fade from your heart."


	11. Tangled up

**Disclaimer: **Don't own Naruto!

_**A/N:**_ my shortest drabble... but after 20 drabbles back to back in 10 days, I think I can be forgiven for teeny-tiny one.

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TANGLED UP**_**  
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It made no sense to Tenten how it was that every time, no matter how painstakingly she prepared and organized everything the previous year, her Christmas lights _always, ALWAYS_ got tangled.

Each year after the holiday's ended, the bun-haired girl would put away the decorations in their original boxes, wrapped in between fleece blankets to protect them from being broken. She would pile the light-weight garland and tinsel between any gaps for extra protection. Then she would take down the strings of lights one at a time and carefully place each bulb in the placeholders that came in each box, just the way they had been when she brought them home from the store. After packing it all up into a plastic tub labeled 'Christmas decorations,' everything would lay untouched until the following holiday season.

One would think that with all the careful preparation and planning, it would be simple enough to open the plastic tub and begin the decorating process with little to no effort. But noooooooo, every year, without fail, the kunoichi had to spend at least five hours de-tangling the Christmas lights.

"AHHHH!"

"Tenten?" the white-eyed man sitting next to her called questioning. He too was holding a string of white lights.

Though they had been good friends for many years, this was the first Christmas they would be spending together as boyfriend and girlfriend. Knowing how much she loved the holidays, Neji had wanted to be involved in the whole process with her from the very beginning.

"It's just-aghh!" she pulled the colored string in her hand angrily. "These stupid things! I don't-aghh!"

"Tenten," he calmly called to the kunoichi as she continued to pull at the tangled up mess, wishing she could just rip them apart.

"What?" she yelled, turning to face the Hyuga.

"Here," Neji calmly extending his hand out with the untangled string of white lights. "I can do those," he offered, using his other hand to take the one Tenten was holding.

Speechless, the kunoichi smiled as she handed over the string of lights in her hand. "Thanks Neji," she whispered, leaning forward and quickly pecking his cheek, all her previous rage completely forgotten. "You're the best."

It was nice to have a boyfriend during the holidays.


	12. Snow On Christmas

**Disclaimer: **Don't own Naruto!

_**A/N:**_ MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

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SNOW ON CHRISTMAS**_**  
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It never snowed on Christmas.

Being located in the center of Fire Country, Konoha didn't really get cold weather. Fire Country, as it's name implied, was a hot country. Not as hot like the desert-lands of Sand Country, but hot nonetheless. As result, it never snowed.

Tenten had always dreamed of a white Christmas, but considering the coldest it ever got in Konoha was some scattered thunderstorms during the rainy season, it was looking like she would never see snow on Christmas. Of course she could always go somewhere where it did snow, but what would the point in that be? Christmas was about spending the time with friends and family. If Tenten left, just to search for some snow, she'd still be missing a part of that white Christmas that she dreamed of.

"haaah," the kunoichi sighed. "It's just never going to snow on Christmas."

Though it was considerably cold outside, on this Christmas eve, as Tenten sat in the center of the village square, waiting for her Hyuga to show up, it was not nearly cold enough for snow. It would be a miracle if it even rained. Though, she didn't want that either. Rain would ruin her and Neji's plan to spend the day together before both of them celebrated Christmas day with their families.

"Just once..." Tenten sighed again, looking up into the cloudless sky. "Just once I'd like to see snow on Christmas."

It was a beautiful day, all things considered. The sky was a bright blue. Birds were singing noisily at all corners of the village. Children laughed, bells rung, music echoed. The air was full of excitement. And a faint chilly breeze whistled through the rooftops, adding just the right touch of the winter season to make the day feel like Christmas. Over all, it looked to be a wonderful day. And as she glanced down at the crinkled lavender colored paper, with white snowflake pattern, wrapped around the small box she held in her hand, Tenten was certain she would have a good time out on her date. But still, she longed for that soft white fluttery fluff to fall from the sky over Konoha and complete her perfect Christmas. But alas, she knew that would never happen.

"Ten," the deep baritone voice of the one and only Hyuga prodigy called out from behind the kunoichi.

"Neji," she turned and smiled at him, standing up from the bench where she had been waiting for the white-eyed boy for the last fifteen minutes.

"You haven't been waiting too long, have you?"

Tenten shook her head, still smiling as she walked over to him. "No, I just got here a little while ago."

He smiled in response, taking her hand in his as they began walking towards the artificial ice rink in the center of the village. "You look very beautiful, Tenten."

Though it wasn't their first date, the kunoichi had been rather excited about going out on Christmas Eve with Neji, and had spent hours deciding what to wear. In the end, she'd picked something relatively simple. Since they were going ice skating, and she'd never been, she had opted for something comfortable to move in rather than anything too fancy. A flowing skirt had seemed the best option, but having heard that falling on the ice could get cold and painful, the bun-haired girl had decided on some thick tights for both the warmth and the extra padding in case her butt did end up meeting the ice. Bundled up in a heavy winter coat, and scarf, she'd wondered if she even looked cute. Her hair, let down from it's usual buns, had seemed somewhat pretty. She was glad to hear, though, that he at least thought she looked good.

"Thank you," Tenten replied, blushing from the compliment as she tucked a strand of her loose hair behind her right ear. "Oh!" she suddenly remembered she was still holding on to the Hyuga's gift. "Here," smiling excitedly she handed Neji his gift, hoping he'd like it.

He thanked her as he took the gift with his free hand and guided them over to a lone bench at one end of the ice rink. There, he pulled a smaller box from his pocket, wrapped in bright red packaging, and handed it to her. She waited for him to open his gift, eager to see his reaction to the homemade scarf she had painstakingly knitted for him. He seemed to be quite pleased and touched by the gesture, immediately putting it on, before waiting for her to open her own gift.

Holding the small red box in her hand, Tenten wondered what it could be. It certainly wasn't a weapon, which was what most people generally thought to give her. It was surprisingly heavier than she would have imagined, but nothing in it's shape or size gave anything away about what might be hidden inside. Deciding she would never guess what it was, Tenten immediately went about to opening the small package. She tried to be careful in unwrapping it, since it had looked so pretty and she didn't want to just tear it open. Slowly, she pulled the paper aside and then used her nails to cut open the box.

Reaching into the box to pull out her gift and get a better look, Tenten's eyes just about burst into tears as she held up a tiny little orb with a miniscule replica of Konoha inside. Smiling, she turned to Neji and threw her arms over his shoulders, hugging him tightly.

"Thank you Neji," she emotionally whispered, before pulling away and giving her new gift a gentle shake. Inside the globe, fluttery little white fluffs drifted down upon the miniature Konoha. "Snow on Christmas..."


End file.
